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FinCEN Issues Initiatives to Combat Fraud in Minnesota

Published on January 14, 2026; updated March 2, 2026


The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) recently announced several actions, including the issuance of a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) to require banks and money transmitters located in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties to report additional information about funds transferred outside of the United States, as well as the issuance of an Alert to urge financial institutions to identify and report fraud associated with Federal child nutrition programs.

The terms of the GTO are effective beginning February 12, 2026, and ending August 10, 2026. 

FinCEN also recently provided on-the-ground training for Minnesota-based Federal, state, and local law enforcement on how to utilize financial data, such as Suspicious Activity Reports, to better combat these fraud schemes.

Update on Exemptive Relief Issued by FinCEN on February 27, 2026
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is providing tailored exemptive relief related to the Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) imposing recordkeeping and reporting requirements on certain financial institutions in Hennepin and Ramsey Counties in Minnesota. This GTO, which came into effect on February 12, 2026, is intended to support Treasury’s efforts to combat government benefits fraud.

The order provides targeted revisions to the scope of the reporting required under the GTO to ensure that Treasury is collecting the most useful, actionable, and relevant data. This order will ensure that banks can focus their resources on higher risk transactions to provide Treasury with the most useful data.

Specifically, this exemptive relief action is targeted toward certain categories of funds transfers that are lower risk for government benefits fraud, and to allow banks sufficient time to report certain information required by the GTO. This action (1) exempts banks from reporting funds transfers that involve certain categories of highly regulated entities—a narrow exemption designed to allow banks to focus their resources on transfers that are higher risk for the government benefit frauds targeted by the GTO; and (2) exempts banks from recording or reporting certain information for account holder customers until May 13, 2026—a temporary exemption that applies only to certain transfers and only to a narrow category of information with respect to those transfers, in order to provide banks with additional time to update software and related systems. All other terms of the GTO remain in effect. The relief does not apply to money transmitters, which must comply with the GTO as issued.

Read the Exemptive Relief Order
For questions concerning this Order, please contact FinCEN’s Regulatory Support Section by submitting an inquiry at www.fincen.gov/contact.

Geographic Targeting Order Resources
Please review and share the following resources with appropriate personnel.
Need Additional Support?
For technical assistance or questions related to filing, including FI Portal access or GTO submissions, filers should contact FinCEN through the FinCEN Support Center at https://assistance.fincen.gov/contact/s/.  

When submitting an inquiry, filers should select Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) as the General Subject Area, Regulatory/Policy/Business as the Type, and 8300/GTO and CMIR Inquiries for “Need Help With.” 

All other questions about the GTO should be directed to www.fincen.gov/contact, and should include the phrase “Minnesota GTO” in the description.